Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Oakland Unified School District Compliance Review (09-12-5001)

The Oakland School District (District) entered into an agreement to resolve a Title VI compliance review that OCR initiated that focused whether the District subjected African American students to discrimination on the basis of race by disciplining them more frequently and more harshly than similarly situated White students. The Agreement, entered into prior to the conclusion of OCR’s investigation, requires the District to continue to implement preventative strategies and interventions prior to suspending a student and to expand its efforts to have its schools utilize restorative justice practices, positive behavior interventions and supports and other strategies based upon a response to intervention framework. The Agreement requires that District discipline policies be revised and updated and that school climate surveys and discussion forums be coordinated and convened along with an informational program for parents and guardians to explain District discipline policies. The District will conduct a comprehensive review of its School Security Officer program to assess its effectiveness and identify any changes that should be made to ensure that it aligns with the District’s goals with regard to discipline. The Agreement requires the District to revise and upgrade its data collection systems that track disciplinary referrals and outcomes and to create a process for schools to review their discipline data and identify student and staff needs for support. Student support will be based on identified student need and staff support will include professional development and coaching for school administrator, teachers and other staff. The Agreement also requires extensive training of staff and students. Read
the Press Release | Read
the Resolution LetterPDF (510K)
| Read
the Compliance AgreementPDF (397K)